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Quote by Katherine Paterson

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Katherine Paterson
Katherine Paterson

Katherine Paterson is an esteemed American children's literature author known for her profound emotions and rich imagination. Her works have won numerous top awards in the American children's literature field, such as the Newbery Medal. Born on October 31, 1932, Paterson's works cover a variety of themes from historical novels to modern life, enjoying great popularity among readers. more

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“We humans have had from time unknown the compulsion to name things and thus to be able to deal with them. The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it. And in ancient thought the name itself has power, so that to know someone's name is to have a certain power over him. And in some societies, as you know, there was a public name and a real or secret name, which would not be revealed to others.”

KnowsGivingHumansRealAbleCertainNamesDealsSecretAttitudeShapesAncientCompulsion
Book:Gates of excellence: on reading and writing books for children
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“a novel is not born of a single idea. The stories I've tried to write from one idea, no matter how terrific an idea, have sputtered out and died by chapter three. For me, novels have invariably come from a complex of ideas that in the beginning seemed to bear no relation to each other, but in the unconscious began mysteriously to merge and grow. Ideas for a novel are like the strong guy lines of a spider web. Without them the silken web cannot be spun.”

WritingIdeasMatterStoriesGuyThreeStrongGrowsBornLinesNovelBearsRelationDiedComplexesUnconsciousChaptersSpidersTerrificSpunSpider Web
Author:Katherine Paterson
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“I am called to listen to the sound of my own heart -- to write the story within myself that demands to be told at that particular point in my life. And if I do this faithfully, clothing that idea in the flesh of human experience and setting it in a true place, the sound from my heart will resound in the reader's heart.”

IfsWritingHumansHeartIdeasStoriesSoundMy OwnParticularReaderMy HeartDemandFleshSettingSettingsClothingsHuman Experience
Author:Katherine Paterson
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“One question that people always ask at home is never asked here: "What happened to Communism in Russia?" Everybody yawns when a visitor brings it up, because the answer is so obvious to every Russian. The answer is that there never was Communism in Russia; there were only communists.”

PeopleHomeAsksAnswersHappenedObviousRussiaCommunismCommunistVisitors
Book:The trail of the dinosaur: and Reflections on hanging
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